'Farm Boys' (1990) *

* Back in 1990, I was invited to guest-edit an issue of 'Farm', an occasional art-related zine published by Hudson, mastermind of the great gallery Feature Inc. I can't remember whether Hudson requested that the issue focus on writing by daring Queer male writers or whether that was my idea. The issue, which I edited under the pseudonym Farmer Joe Jr. -- whose bio note in the zine read '... 16 yrs. old, likes "gay fiction", the smell of shit, Fugazi, and snuff movies (har har) ...' -- and subtitled 'Farm Boys', mostly featured work by people who were in my gang of writer friends at the time. Some of the entries have never been featured anywhere else, so I thought I'd rescue a selection from the issue for posterity or whatever. The contributors featured below include Robert Gluck, Brad Gooch, Richard Hawkins, Hudson, Gary Indiana, Kevin Killian, Bernard Welt, non-Queer guest Benjamin Weissman, and David Sedaris.  Among the contributors missing in action from this selection are Sam D'Allesandro, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Manuel Ramos Otero, Ken Siman, Gregory Kolovakos, and myself.















































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p.s.  Hey.  Today's my last full day in LA for now, and I'm hoping to check a few more things off my to-do list.  It's been a good visit, but I'd be pretty disappointed by how few friends I managed to see if I wasn't coming back here in a month.  Even though I fly back to Paris tomorrow, the blog will appear as usual before I go although likely with a strong wind pushing me through the p.s.  Things are fine here, although I think that's all I've got for you as far as an intro today.  **  KYTE, I had a quick first read this morning of the chapters on your blog, not thorough enough to say too much about them in depth yet, though I will later, but I like them very much.  You're a very good, exciting writer, that's for sure, and I think what you're doing with structure and form in those pieces is very interesting.  I really like the subtitles, and how they work, and I really like how you're mixing things that seem 'real' or autobiographical with a more fictional seeming story, like in the section playing with 'Janie's Got a Gun', which I loved.  I love how the topical references sometimes instigate a story and sometimes a personal seeming digression.  I think the mixture and blurring and juxtapositions are really effective.  So, yeah, I'm very impressed.  How much more of the story is there?  I definitely encourage you to finish the story to your satisfaction and just write more in general.  Your talent is very obvious and compelling, and it's a great discovery for me.  Thanks a lot for that, Kyte.  **  Esther Planas, Dreams only dreamed, yes, sigh, but what you weave is plenty dreamy, pal.  **  Edward, Hey.  Welcome to the blog. I certainly knew nothing about the libretto you mentioned, and I'm fascinated to hear the opera.  I'll track it down.  Thanks much for your visit, comment, and input.  Take care.  **  Patrick deWitt, Hey, man.  I'm glad the Fest or, rather, Fests went well for you.  How was that LA Weekly shebang?  I haven't talked to anyone who went.  Your book seems to be heavily on display in the book stores I've been to, which was awfully nice to see.  My time at Times Fest was a pleasant, wandering sort of thing.  Anyway, welcome home.  **  Alan, Oh, I guess I just meant I know you like Hammett, who employs plot.  My statement was too much of a leap.  I read fiction the way you read, obviously.  Plot is mostly just a form of momentum, etc. to me.  The non-fiction book doesn't require a ton of work.  I just need to go through all the essays, articles, reviews, interviews, etc. that I've done, pick the ones I think are okay, have them typed over -- 'cos in most cases the only versions I have are the pages of the magazines, etc. in which they appeared -- then make an order and send the mss. off.  It's really nice of you to offer help, but I think I've got my end of the bargain in place apart from the typing over part, and I have a couple of people who are willing to take that job.  I'll let you know if there's a snag, but it should be simple and just time consuming.  Thanks a lot, man.  **  Ignacio, Is DFW's interest in Jill Kelly in print?  Yeah, according to my friend/ moderator Michael Silverblatt, Katherine rocked the house, and of course I'm mighty excited that The Novel might actually be reaching the light.  Peter Rock, no.  I'll seek out 'The Bewildered', though.  I'm so out of it on print mags to send stories too.  I only think of the obvious: Bomb, Tinhouse, Black Clock ...  No Colony, which I've been reading the last week, is excellent.  Your current music playlist is so close to mine, it's almost eerie.  **  Blendin, Oh, the 9th.  I thought the auction thing was sooner for some reason.  I might be thinking of the LACE auction.  No, I haven't perused what you sent yet, but I'll try to do that today.  These LA visits tend to smack my email/bitch up more than usual.  When will you hear about the possible LA job?  **  Bill, I'm with you on the loose ends and ticking clock fronts.  And on the 'Turn of the Screw' front too, come to think of it.  Best of luck with your wrap ups.  **  Tim Miller, Yeah, these trips just zoom, it's weird.  Hey, will your new piece be running when I'm back here in a month?  That would be nice coincidence, to say the least.  Very best of luck on nailing that piece down pre-premiere, not that you even slightly need it.  Great if we can talk before I hit the road.  Take care, man.  **  Statictick, So, did you piss them off?  If you remember that horror movie, do tell.  I watched 'Diary of the Dead' last night.  It wasn't too good.  **  JW Veldhoen, Physically tough but not bigger than you?  Wait, that could work.  Some of most dangerous guys I ever saw were little skinny guys.  Wiry, I mean.  The sound of this project of yours is moving my ass closer to the edge of this couch.  **  Chris Stamm, M. Stadler did write to me, yeah, and I hope we can figure something out, but not for the June trip since the time I'll be over here is heavily bracketed by my publisher.  But since Matthew's thing doesn't have to be book release-related, I think we can swing it, which will be totally great, obviously.  I love pretty Portland.  What are you working on these days?  Fiction, film writings, music ... ?  **  Colin, Is Silliman over there to support 'The Alphabet', or I guess I mean is that book being published there as well?  Is there a noteworthy readership for writers like Silliman and Bernstein in the UK?  I realize I have no idea about that.  Yeah, I don't quite know what to make of Bernstein's video portraits either.  They're so odd and slight and not what I'd expect that I guess I'm enchanted by them or by the fact that Charles is doing them.  I'd be interested to read his thoughts on them, and I think I've only read tiny, not so revealing mentions by him of them.  **  Chris, I'll check Saalfelden on google maps.  Oh, and thanks for the email about the PS122 event honoring Ishmael.  How great is that!  I'll be in NYC then, but from what I could tell, the tickets are like $200 or something, which is way out of my league.  I guess I'll try to do a little ad in the program or something.  Are you going, performing there?  Obviously, the honor is so awesome and so unbelievably deserved.  It's a total thrill to know it's happening.  **  Mark, Hm, you know, that's a very good question about slaves being tax-deductible or not, ha ha.  And I think there'll be a slave or five in my new novel, and, gosh, how helpful it would be to have a few around right now. Dare I ask my accountant?  I haven't read 'Under Albany'.  I'm a real fan of Silliman's 'Tjanting'.  I think a tricky thing about the Language writers, to use that general term, is that they're innovative but at the same time that kind of work is very institutionalized via the very healthy support it receives in university programs.  The combination is curious and a bit daunting to me because I long associate innovation with the underground and a more romantic form of rebellion, but I guess I just like the particular writers tagged as Language writers whom I like instinctually like rather than being interested in the whole.  Bob Perelman is a big favorite of mine, among others.  I do really like all those five writers you mentioned.  In the case of Coolidge's work, I love the early books but I'm not so sure about what he's doing now.  His book/poem about Kurt Cobain was kind of painful, but maybe I didn't get it.  **  SYpHA_69, Funny, William Bennett friended me on Facebook today, which is very cool, of course, and I wondered if the trigger was that he saw me mention him here.  **  Misanthrope, Well, a good slave would come and go as you wished.  I think the boring part might be the endless adulation, sacrifice, and self-deprecation stuff.  But how would I know, ahem?  Oh, my agent, who seems to know a lot more than I do about my NYC schedule, told me this morning that, as far as he knows, the 'Ugly Man' party thing is supposed to be on the evening of the 27th at a bar called The Boiler Room.  Then there's some second reading a couple of days later, maybe at St. Marks Bookshop?  I'll put the facts in the news column thing as soon as I have them.  I'm all wait-and-see about the swine flu thing.  I'm thinking the real story will start kicking in by a week from now.  I have taken some LA pix, and you will see them on, mm, Monday.  Not a ton of photos, but the visit didn't really have a ton of picturesque things to shoot.  I'm not hitting those links, man.  Trust has to be earned, ha ha.  ** Orestes, One more day on the weird, Europe-unfriendly posting schedule, and then we'll be back in sync.  I think every writer gets those 'don't have anything to write about' moods/phases. I get them all the time, and then, whoosh, I get an idea.  You just have to wait for the inspiration to come home.  It'll pass.  With you on board, that makes quite a bunch of Brent Corrigan lovers around here.  Not me, which might be strange or unexpected or something.  I like what he's willing to do more than I like him.  Maybe I should get you BC lovers to do a collective Brent Corrigan Day.  I'm in LA 'til tomorrow.  Yeah, it feels like I'm coming home when I'm here, not that Paris doesn't feel like home, just less so, I guess.  **  Wolf McLynchenberg, Wow, you have a last name.  I'm only the teeniest bit antsy about the swine flu thing 'cos I'll be cramped on a plane with a bunch of strangers.  Otherwise, I don't know.  **  Oscar B, What was your attempted work?  Oh, the pix of your show look really great.  The installation looks beautiful.  What a nice space, and I especially like the group drawing and the portraits on chains, and that very odd, alluring image with the piano.  Thanks for looking at 'Ziggy'.  I'd forgotten they called it that in Italy.  I've been slowly putting together the next escort post, and I found a new escort boy in Paris using the name Ziggy, and of course I'm wondering if he got it from my character.  Only one way to find out, I guess, ha ha, ahem.  No news from Keith on my end.  I'm a little worried, but I don't know what else to do but wait and hope he pops up here, good as new.  **  Inthemostpeculiarway, I have a lot of friends who adore Amy Hempel.  I've only read a little, and it seemed okay, but I need to read more before I know what she's up to.  I don't know Chelsea Handler, but, assuming she's a TV person, I'm years behind on that medium, as I've said.  I only watched '30 Rock' for the first time last night.  I was surprised to find it's pretty much as terrific as everyone says it is. Your comment wasn't bitchy or long, man.  Either that or I like things that are long and bitchy.  Which would make sense since I seem to like guys who are long and bitchy for some reason.  Carry on, in other words.  ** Adam Egypt Mortimer, Hey.  Welcome to this place.  I do like the No Neck Blues Band a lot, and how incredible that you'd made a film about them.  What a great idea!  I'd really love to see it, obviously.  Montreuil on the 6th is the best shot?  I'll try my best, although I think I'll be in theater rehearsals that day/evening.   If I can't, I'll wait greedily for the DVD.  If you don't mind, that would totally kind of you to send me one when the time is right.  I can give you my Paris address whenever need be.  So, big congrats and respect and everything else from me.  **  David, Me too.  **  David Ehrenstein, You don't need to lose weight, you fox.  **  Stan_cz, Yeah, I fear with this stupid visa business, you have to get pragmatic and patient and just keep your eye eternally on the ball.  Heck, I never thought I'd be in France for almost four years now figuring all that out, but mine is a drastic case.  But yeah, school to school transfer is a logical way to think about it now, and better options will probably arise in the meantime, and the UK is no LA, but you might love it.  People do.  **  Pisycaca, That sounds like a great US trip.  Unfortunately, I would not advise coming to LA to visit without either the ability to drive or the money to pay for a driver and car or a local friend who can drive you around.  If I was here, I'd do that, and I will be back here eventually, so a rain check on that.  You really can't get any kind of sense of this city as a visitor without wheels.  Some of the Portland and Seattle based folks here would be your best advisors, but it seems like Portland at least would be perfectly fine to visit without a car.  Maybe I'm wrong though.  Hey, you Portlandians and Seattle residents out there, any thoughts on the wisdom of visiting your cities if one doesn't drive or have a car that you can pass along to our friends Pisycaca?  Thanks.  **  Kier, Oh, yeah, please do post your thoughts about that DVD.  That would be great.  I'm going to put together a post on those videos when I get back to Paris.  The non-fiction book will basically be a kind of 'best of' the articles and essays and reviews and stuff I've written plus the interviews I've conducted and so on.  The best of the stuff in 'All Ears' and then mostly all the uncollected stuff.  Oh, ha ha, the title just means I don't know what the title is going to be yet.  So I got it from the same place The Breeders did, but it's just temporary in my case.  Thanks for the flight well wishes.  Yeah, here's hoping for no swine flu, watchable movies, and maybe an hour or two of sleep by some miracle, which is asking a lot with my long legs and those very non-cozy seats.  **  NB, Hey to you too, bud.  Cool weekend plans?  Well, most of tomorrow will be spent on a plane, and most of Sunday will be spent stumbling around Paris in a post-arrival daze trying to stay awake until it gets dark, so, long story short, plenty of weekend plans but nothing cool.  It's all about tonight.  All the weekend pressure is on tonight, and I'll probably spend that packing.  If or when Yury gets a visa, we'll ideally live in LA and probably spend a fair amount of time in Paris too.  In France, Yury has what's called a carte de sejour or living permit thanks to his job there.  Barring unforeseen problems, that should keep him there legally for a while.  I just go in and out on tourist visas.  Technically, I should have a visa to be living there like I am, but I don't, and so far no one who looks at my passport when I travel back and forth has blinked.  Knock on something or other.  **  Flit, Totally, right?  Me too.  Heavily mindfuck enchanting stuff.  **  Steevee, Thanks a lot, man, and I hope you have the most pleasant possible time in Connecticut.  **  You-x, First of many for absolutely sure.   Based on initial further investigation on the new visa possibility, which I can't say much about for now, it's seeming awfully complicated and less promising than it did in theory, but I'm on it nonetheless, and we'll see.  I love Jon Lovitz.  He's doing a weekly stand-up gig here in LA right now, and even though I sort of can't bear stand-up comedy, I almost tried to go.  Great to see you, man, especially here in LA but also 'here'.  **  Marcus Whale, Hey, man!  Yeah, I'm quite a fan of Phil Elverum.  Love Mount Eerie and The Microphones a bunch.  I've long wanted to read one of his books, but I haven't yet.  Have you?  Absolutely about that 'half space' -- nice term.  Some of the best shows I've seen were the result of that in between context.  Are uou good, work- and school-wise and etc.?  **  Pascal, Hey.  Yeah, thanks again so very much for the Paul Muldoon Day, and I'm glad you enjoyed it as much we all did.  My wherever is still here, and here is still LA for a little longer.  Yeah, one more big thanks, and take care, man.  **  Heliotrope, I sort of thought it had to be.  The Buckley doc, I mean.  LA feels all melancholy today because I'm about to leave it, grr.  Love to you.  **  Okay, I hope there's something in the 'Farm Boys' scanfest that'll be of interest.  A lot of text, I know, but it'll be here 'for all eternity'.  Have good days while I enjoy mine, and I'll see you back here one more time from my LA origins tomorrow.